1) Which of the following most logically completes the passage?
It is generally believed that people receiving frequent medical checkups are likely to need hospitalization less frequently than they would otherwise; after all, many things can be done following a checkup to prevent problems that, if ignored, might become acute and then require hospitalization. But for people with chronic illnesses, frequent medical checkups are likely to lead to more frequent hospitalization since __________.
(A) the recommended treatments for complications of many chronic illnesses involve hospitalization, even if those complications are detected while barely noticeable
(B) medical checkups sometimes do not reveal early symptoms of those chronic illnesses that are best treated in a hospital
(C) the average length of a hospital stay is the same for those who receive frequent checkups as for those who do not
(D) people with chronic illnesses generally receive medical checkups more frequently than people who are not chronically ill
(E) the average length of a hospital stay for people with a chronic illness tends to increase as the illness progresses
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2
A drug that is highly effective in treating many types of infection can, at present, be obtained only from the bark of the ibora, a tree that is quite rare in the wild. It takes the bark of 5,000 trees to make one kilogram of the drug. It follows, therefore, that continued production of the drug must inevitably lead to the ibora's extinction.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) The drug made from ibora bark is dispensed to doctors from a central authority.
(B) The drug made from ibora bark is expensive to produce.
(C) The leaves of the ibora are used in a number of medical products.
(D) The ibora can be propagated from cuttings and grown under cultivation.
(E) The ibora generally grows in largely inaccessible places.
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3
PhishCo runs a number of farms in the arid province of Nufa, depending largely on the irrigation. Now, as a part of a plan to efficiently increase the farms' total production, it plans to drill down to an aquifer containing warm, slightly salty water that will be used to raise fish in ponds. The water from the ponds will later be used to supplement piped-in irrigation water for PhishCo's vegetable fields, and the ponds and accompanying vegetation should help reduce the heat in the area of the farms.
Which of the following would, if true, most strongly suggest that the plan, if implemented, would increase the overall efficiency of PhishCo's farms?
(A) Most of the vegetation to be placed around the ponds is native to Nufa.
(B) Fish raised on PhishCo's farms are likely to be saleable in the nearest urban areas.
(C) Organic waste from fish in the pond water will help to fertilize fields where it is used for irrigation.
(D) The govt of Nufa will help to arrange loan financing to partially cover the costs of drilling.
(E) Ponds will be located on low-lying land now partially occupied by grain crops.
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4
Only a reduction of 10 percent in the number of scheduled flights using Greentown's airport will allow the delays that are so common there to be avoided. Hevelia airstrip, 40 miles away, would, if upgraded and expanded, be an attractive alternative for fully 20 percent of the passengers using Greentown airport. Nevertheless, experts reject the claim that turning Hevelia into a full-service airport would end the chronic delays at Greentown.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to justify the experts' position?
(A) Turning Hevelia into a full-service airport would require not only substantial construction at the airport itself, but also the construction of new access highways.
(B) A second largely undeveloped airstrip close to Greentown airport would be a more attractive alternative than Hevelia for many passengers who now use Greentown.
(C) Hevelia airstrip lies in a relatively undeveloped area but would, if it became a full-service airport, be a magnet for commercial and residential development.
(D) If an airplane has to wait to land, the extra jet fuel required adds significantly to the airline's costs.
(E) Several airlines use Greentown as a regional hub, so that most flights landing at Greentown have many passengers who then take different flights to reach their final destinations.
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5
In the past most airline companies minimized aircraft weight to minimize fuel costs. The safest airline seats were heavy, and airlines equipped their planes with few of these seats. This year the seat that has sold best to airlines has been the safest one - a clear indication that airlines are assigning a higher priority to safe seating than to minimizing fuel costs.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) Last year's best-selling airline seat was not the safest airline seat on the market.
(B) No airline company has announced that it would be making safe seating a higher priority this year.
(C) The price of fuel was higher this year than it had been in most of the years when the safest airline seats sold poorly.
(D) Because of increases in the cost of materials, all airline seats were more expensive to manufacture this year than in any previous year.
(E) Because of technological innovations, the safest airline seat on the market this year weighed less than most other airline seats on the market.
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6
Some batches of polio vaccine used around 1960 were contaminated with SV40, a virus that in monkeys causes various cancers. Some researchers now claim that this contamination caused some cases of a certain cancer in humans, mesothelioma. This claim is not undercut by the fact that a very careful survey made in the 1960s of people who had received the contaminated vaccine found no elevated incidence of any cancer, since __________.
(A) most cases of mesothelioma are caused by exposure to asbestos
(B) in some countries, there was no contamination of the vaccine
(C) SV40 is widely used in laboratories to produce cancers in animals
(D) mesotheliomas take several decades to develop
(E) mesothelioma was somewhat less common in 1960 than it is now
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7
More and more law firms specializing in corporate taxes are paid on a contingency-fee basis. Under this arrangement, if a case is won, the firm usually receives more than it would have received if it had been paid on the alternate hourly rate basis. If the case is lost, the firm receives nothing. Most firms are likely to make more under the contingency-fee arrangement.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the prediction above?
(A) Firms that work exclusively under the hourly rate arrangement spend, on average, fewer hours on cases that are won than on cases that are lost.
(B) Some litigation can last for years before any decision is reached, and, even then, the decision may be appealed.
(C) Firms under the contingency-fee arrangement still pay their employees on an hourly basis.
(D) Since the majority of firms specialize in certain kinds of cases, they are able to assess accurately their chances of winning each potential case.
(E) Firms working under the contingency-fee arrangement take in fewer cases per year than do firms working under the hourly rate arrangement.
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8
Researchers hope to find clues about the A'mk peoples who lived in the Kaumpta region about one thousand years ago but who left few obvious traces. The researchers plan to hire the few remaining shamans of the modern-day indigenous people in Kaumpta, who are believed to be descended from the A'mk, to lead them to ancestral sites that may be the remains of A'mk buildings or ceremonial spaces. The shamans were taught the location of such sites as part of their traditional training as youths, and their knowledge of traditional Kaumpta customs may help determine the nature of any sites the researchers find.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the success of the plan depends?
(A) The researchers have reliable evidence that the A'mk of one thousand years ago built important ceremonial spaces.
(B) The shamans have a reasonably accurate memory of A'mk sites they learned about as youths.
(C) Kaumpta shamans are generally held in high esteem for their traditional knowledge.
(D) Modern technologies available to the researchers are likely to be able to find some A'mk sites easily.
(E) Most or all A'mk sites are likely to be found within the Kaumpta region.
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9
A company that manufactures plastic products from recyclable plastic is, surprisingly, unconcerned that economic conditions may worsen, despite analysts' belief that consumers would then consider ecofriendly plastic products an expensive luxury. But the company reasons that it will be able to lower its prices because, in a weakened economy, other ecofriendly plastic manufacturers are likely to fail. Demand among manufacturers for recyclable plastics as raw materials would then plummet, creating an oversupply of such materials, making them less expensive for the manufacturer to purchase and thus lowering the company's costs.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the company's reasoning?
A. Smaller ecofriendly plastic manufacturers are more likely to fail in a weakened economy than larger ecofriendly manufacturers are.
B. Some retailers whose sales include various companies' ecofriendly plastic products have struggled in recent years despite the overall good economy.
C. Consumers would likely soon learn of the oversupply of recyclable plastics and cease recycling them, significantly raising manufacturers' raw-material costs.
D. Retailers, including retailers that cater to consumers seeking certain types of ecofriendly products, may lose some business if economic conditions worsen.
E. The plastics used by the company in its products were, after a recent investigation by a regulatory body, declared to be safe for consumers.
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10
Physician: The hormone melatonin has shown promise as a medication for sleep disorders when taken in synthesized form. Because the long-term side effects of synthetic melatonin are unknown, however, I cannot recommend its use at this time.
Patient: Your position is inconsistent with your usual practice. You prescribe many medications that you know have serious side effects, so concern about side effects cannot be the real reason you will not prescribe melatonin.
The patient's argument is flawed because it fails to consider that
(A) the side effects of synthetic melatonin might be different from those of naturally produced melatonin
(B) it is possible that the physician does not believe that melatonin has been conclusively shown to be effective
(C) sleep disorders, if left untreated, might lead to serious medical complications
(D) the side effects of a medication can take some time to manifest themselves
(E) known risks can be weighed against known benefits, but unknown risks cannot
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